Happy Holidays from the Ministry: Make Sure That You Practice Holiday Floo Safety Safety is a concern for everyone. 342 injuries related to the Floo Network have been reported in the past year. Of those, 276 injuries happened during the holiday season. The Daily Prophet reached out to Matthew Rodgers of the Department of Magical Transportation, he has been kind enough as to sit down for an interview and  provide our readers with several tips for a safer holiday season when using the Floo Network. We hope that these tips have been helpful. The Ministry of Magic and your favorite paper, the Daily Prophet wish you and all of your loved ones a happy holidays this holiday season.

1. Make certain that your fireplace is not obstructed with stockings or other decorations. While festive, stockings and decorations can get tangled up and cause injuries. Last year there were three instances where a traveler's limb was caught in a garland when they interfaced with the Floo System. Two travelers suffered from a dislocated shoulder and the third a fractured ankle last holiday season. In another incident last year, stockings in a fireplace were filled with gifts that reportedly bludgeoned 32 travelers in the face, resulting in 13 corneal scratches, one subdural hematoma and periorbital bruising in the remaining. 2. Do not keep a lit fire in the fireplace you have connected to the floo network. Burn injuries were by far the most common reported floo-related injury. If you plan on traveling through the floo network this holiday season, make certain during these colder months that your hosts are prepared for your arrival. Please send an owl ahead of time. Surprises are always appreciated but safety always comes first. 3. Do not travel when ill. You need to clearly state your intended destination. If you feel a cold coming on, your ability to use the floo network will be limited and you might find yourself stranded. Treat any ailments you might have before you travel. 4. Secure all luggage. When traveling during the holiday season, it is likely that you will be bringing gifts. If those gifts cannot be transported by owl or courier, please secure them to your person firmly so that they are not lost in transit and more importantly you are not injured by flailing luggage.

Magical Blotter

November 7th 2:15 pm - a lycanotrope-cursed young man in Newport has been accused of a local rampage that took the lives of three young men during the last full moon has been captured hiding in the home of his girlfriend. Both have been detained.

November 12th 8:03 am - a domestic dispute in Derby between a muggle and a wizard turned fatal as a muggle woman stabbed her wizard-born husband in his sleep. His body discovered by his teenage son several hours after the fatal assault, muggle authorities will arraign the muggle but it is suspected that she discovered that their son is a wizard and that her rage turned violent and fatal. The murder is believed to be premeditated.

November 18th 3:38 pm - a disagreement became an illegal magical duel in muggle London between a pair of half-bloods that caused some residential damage to several muggle homes. The Magical Law Enforcement Squad arrested the pair of teens from Hogwarts and they will be arraigned next week. Officials have agreed to cover this incident with a dumpster fire caused by an inadequately extinguished cigarette.

November 22nd 6:15 am - an instance of wandless, underage accidental magic with a muggle-born youth has resulted in the near injury of the muggle born as the toddler wandered into the streets after unlocking their door through the use of magic in Glasgow. The child was uninjured and has been returned to her parents. 

November 29th 5:21 pm - a disagreement in a bar between squibs and wizards resulted in property damage at the Leaky Cauldron. It is unknown how these squibs entered Hogsmede or where they are at this time as they fled on foot after an altercation with barroom patrons. 

November 30th 12:00 noon - theft of a components storeroom belonging to the Weaver family in Cardiff that used muggle means of ingress was discovered on this day and is being actively investigated.

Castelobruxo Searches for a New Headmaster

In the elite world of magical private schools, a speculative buzz made its way up and down both sides of the Southern American continent when Castelobruxo chose an unconventional search firm to find a successor for the head of the school, who is retiring this summer. Rather than turn to one of the dozen or so established recruiters in the field, Castelobruxo chose an executive search firm with a tiny nonprofit division and no toehold in the school community. ''Everybody said, 'Whoa!' '' said Antonia P. Maldonado, the departing head of Castelobruxo. "No one is willing to guess if the search will yield an iconoclastic choice," say a college or public school administrator, and Castelobruxo is unwilling to comment. But the curiosity highlights a growing concern in magical school circles that the old headmaster and headmistress candidate pool is not sufficient for new times. The job of running a high-profile magical school has become extraordinarily complex, with some arguing that its mix of curriculum development, public relations, fund-raising, conflict resolution, construction and interpersonal relationships with the board, the faculty, the alumni, the parents and the students is more suited to a chief executive than an educator. There is also concerns regarding a dwindling pure-blood population, pure-blooded heirs and heiresses commonly taking on places of authority as they had been from birth. Some parents are unwilling to accept anything less than a pure-blood wizard to run the school.

In its most recent issue, Castelobruxo Insider, a bimonthly newsletter for parents and administrators, enumerates these challenges. Few candidates, the publication says, ''are hardened enough to cross swords with naysayers and handle the intricacies of a school budget while handling the needs of fractious faculty, querulous parents, ego-intensive boards and spoiled children.'' ''The industry joke is that everybody is looking for God on a good day,'' said Antonia P. Maldonado. The jobs tend to pay well and include perks like free housing and benefits for school-age children. But with 14-hour workdays, tenures have shortened. Castelobruxo's head, Antonia P. Maldonado, for instance, will leave after five years while her predecessor, Eva T. Prieto, retired after 12. Thirty-seven percent of the heads plan to retire within five years, according to the association. An additional 35 percent will within 10 years. That is a generational shift of huge proportion, caused in part by the burnout that comes with an ever-more complicated job. The biggest challenge, and one that has accelerated in the last five years, is what heads euphemistically call ''parent education.'' If a child is caught cheating, these parents do not just assume the school is right, and they often demand an audience with the head. ''These parents are very sensitive if they think their kid has been treated unfairly,'' said former headmistress Eva T. Prieto. ''Our parents' generation accepted unfairness.'' Eva T. Prieto continued to explain that about 20 percent of the parents fell into ''the lunatic fringe.'' At best, Ms. Gilbert said, these parents demonstrated a ''sense of entitlement'' typical of their generation. At worst, she said, their judgment was so flawed they ''are being led off in handcuffs.''

Now, faced with the impending attrition rate, the association is extending its reach. Initiatives include a mentoring program to increase internal promotions and a battery of tests and interview techniques that help schools measure the potential effectiveness of leaders from outside private school universe. ''We think the job is less and less academic and more and more institutional,'' said Eva T. Prieto. ''The predictable pattern is teacher to department head to division head to head of school. We think it would be wise to encourage other paths.'' Due to the unusual approach to succession, the daily Prophet is curious to see how this changes future administrative changes in future incarnations of this magical school as well as potentially others. Several readers have vocalized fears that such a process will remove school from the traditions that they desperately want to teach their children. Others are concerned that the new Headmaster may prove to be too much a businessman and not enough of an educator. While these fears are presently unfounded, the Daily Prophet will continue to report on this front in the coming months as a replacement headmaster is found and established.

The Chosen One is the Guilty One: Potter is found guilty of murder

The media was blocked from viewing what has been dubbed the trial of the century. Harold Potter was accused of murdering Dolores Umbrige on Hogwarts grounds in 2018. Due to the outcry of Potter's supporters, for the safety of the prosecution, the proceedings have been closed to the public but the judge has finally rendered a verdict -- Harry Potter is guilty of murder.

Potter's verdict hinged heavily on witness testimony by students who have been unnamed for the sake of their safety. Potter has been sentenced to life in Azkaban for his crimes. Hermione Granger, known friend of Potter stepped down as Minister of Magic last year has been described by those close to her as 'outraged' and 'perhaps unstable' by her peers.  "It is absolutely ludicrous that Harry had anything to do with Miss Umbrage, if he says he was sleeping I believe him and you should too. Every time I have ever doubted Harry, which was almost never, he has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is where my trust should be."

Harold Potter was accused of slaying Dolores Umbrige, former Professor Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and then later Hogwarts High Inquisitor and Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It is believed that Potter harbored resentment towards the former headmistress for her associations with the Dark Wizard Lord Voldemort, her work as the Head of the Muggle-born Registration Commission and her disciplinarian acts as Headmistress at Hogwarts. It is alleged that after her conviction for her part in the torture, imprisonment and deaths of several people, primarily muggle that Potter felt that Umbridge's sentance was "too light." Umbridge was released early in 2016 in exchange for her assistance in the capture of nearly two dozen death.  

Witnesses claim that they saw Potter enter former Headmaster Zachary Winslow's office with Dolores at 1952 pm and that following a 'terrible scream' only Potter left. It would appear that the killing curse was used on Umbrige. Authorities promptly responded to the incident and Potter was quickly detained. He was found in a visitors quarters in the Gryffindor Common Area, sleeping when he was apprehended a little after midnight.

Potter's partner, August Vancleaf a fellow Auror was on the ground at the time and assisted in his apprehension. He has been quoted as saying "it is a terrible shame about Harry, always liked the guy. It was like working with a celebrity. I guess even the best can go bad sometimes."

Harry Potter has maintained his innocence, his children remain at Hogwarts as students but have declined to comment on their father stating only "you know... we know... everyone knows that he is innocent."

Thieves steal 50,000 Galleons worth of Potions from Yaxley Family Potion Repository

A gang of thieves broke into an upmarket central London potion repository and stole an estimated 5,000 galleons worth of potions and reagents in an audacious heist, per a statement released by a spokeswoman for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement on Wednesday.

It is unknown exactly when the burglary at the Yaxley Potion repository as the structure had been shuttered for well over twenty years, but the theft was discovered over the weekend and has led to claims the thieves must have tunneled in, sparking comparisons to the 2018 heist in the Ministry of Magic's Department of Mysteries where a pair of artifacts were stolen. Police will only say that the thieves broke in through the use of "muggle means" gain access to the potions inside, and that the burglary lacked the sophistication of the heist that took place in the Department of Magic last year.

A task force is being formed to hunt those behind the heist on the potion repository, which contained a number of potions including Veritaserum, Draught of Living Death and an array of undetectable poisons that were all strictly controlled by the British Ministry of Magic. 

Since the imprisonment of the family patriarch Corban Yaxley for his involvement in the Battle of Hogwarts and for his abuses as head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement in the 1990s, his family has left the spotlight and many of their properties such as the Yaxley Potion Repository have been left untouched for decades. However, the property had remained under the watchful guard of the Ministry of Magic for these past two decades. It is estimated that the thieves had gotten away with the potions months earlier, likely early spring. David Bellows, a guard for the Yaxley property recalled a muggle half-marathon was taking place close to the repository, which is on Fleet Street in central London. He theorized that the buildings adjacent would have been closed over the weekend and the repository is located in an area where most shops and offices would also be closed outside normal working hours as well giving the thieves adequate time to accomplish the theft.

Detective Superintendent Jacob Selwyn, leading the investigation, said: “This was an audacious burglary, and there are elements that appear to have been planned with some precision by the suspects. They broke through a wall in order to gain access to the repository. At this stage we are not releasing any further details about the methods used by the suspects."

Gabriel Carrow, spokesman for the Yaxley family added “The estimated loss is 5,000 galleons. This is a theft of high value and the potions taken have a high risk of abuse and misuse, which warrants thorough and determined investigation. We believe that the raid took place in late March, possible during the weekend of the half-marathon. I would urge people who were in the area to think back. It may be that you saw something and now realize it may have been out of place. If this is the case, please make contact with us, even if that is anonymously.”

Investigators are continuing to attempt to determine the volume of the potions that were stolen as well as exactly was stolen as the precise contents of the vaults within the repository can only be speculated, Corban Yaxley has declined to make a comment regarding this and his children have declined to come forward. "Corban Yaxley would have the best idea of what was stored there and what is missing," according to Jacob Selwyn "however he claims that he will only discuss his assets further if he is released from prison."

After the attempt on Albus Dumbledor's life as well as varied abuses of power and human rights violations, Corban Yaxley was placed on house arrest after a lengthy court proceeding in 2000. His house arrest has not been lifted. Advocates for his family include other pure-blood families that spoke of his merits and the light-handed consequences for his actions have been cited as abuses of power, authority and unequal treatment in favor of pure-bloods.

Squibs in Wizard Bookstore Participate in a Sit -In

A group of 20 Squibs in Aberdeen Scottland occupied a wizarding bookstore known as Carpe Librum, without opening any books late Monday morning - starting what they declared would be a growing movement.

The group declared double that number will fill the chairs tomorrow.

Employees of Carpe Librum did not serve the group and cleared the tables at which they sat of all books and relevant texts as they sat from 10:30 a.m. until after noon. Wizarding patrons continued to sit and get service. Maddison Harris, a half-blood and Carpe Librum manager, replied "No comment" to all questions concerning the "sit-down" and about what she planned to do.

Monday's 20-man action followed the appearance at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday of four teenage squibs who sat down and stayed, without service, until the store closed at 9:30 p.m.

Charles Moore, one of the squibs, also half-giant who participated in both sit-ins said that they are seeking service at magical facilities such as Carpe Librum, and will increase their numbers daily until they get it.

Yesterday's group came in at 10:30 a.m. Each entered the book store with a book of their own that they had purchased elsewhere Maddison Harris assures the magical community, then sat in groups of three or four as spaces became vacant.

There was no disturbance and there appeared to be no conversation except among the groups. Some students pulled out books and appeared to be studying. The group today wrote to the owners of Carpe Librum that their sit-ins are "a firm stand to eliminate this discrimination," and signed the letter as members of the Squib Committee Advocating Revolution or S.C.A.R. 

Madeleine McGovern, a part Veela but also squib and another squib Franklin Rowle Jr., stated that the group is seeking fair treatment and that they will continue its push "several days, several weeks ... until something is done."

Both declared the movement is one of their own making but there are others, those "with power" that will help them force their point. That "are helping them force their point" but claim no backing larger associations advocating for squib rights. They said they expect they could count on additional backing in the future if needed once they demonstrate their dedication to change. They hope to encourage more squibs to participate and hope that some wizarding youth who realize and empathize with their cause will join also.

Four leaders, who were at Carpe Librium yesterday and again today, Franklin Rowle Jr, Madeleine McGovern, Charles Moore and Joseph McNeill another half-giant said today's groups came chiefly from Scottish and Irish squib families.

McNeil declared that squib adults "have been complacent and fearful." He declared "It is time for someone to wake up and change the situation ... and we decided to start here."